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Guardian class Frigate
Overview The Altarian Navy's Guardian class frigate is part of an attempt by the navy to create a mid future fleet to replace soon to be acquired naval vessels. While the Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate has not even been in service with the Altarian Navy and probably still won't be for another year or so the Naval Combat Command has projected that although ships entering service within the next few years will form the initial naval combatant force they will soon (in some cases already have been) outclassed by newer ships and technologies. The new Fleet Force Development Program has provisions to replace the Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate with a new indigenous design. The new design must be a multi-purpose frigate rather than one purely focused on ASW as was traditionally it's function. In a new era of high tech anti-ship cruise missiles (and even ballistic missile threats), supercavitating torpedoes and railguns specialization one form of warfare will most definitely lead to destruction by another form. So the Guardian class frigate was envisioned as the Altarian Navy's future fleet multi-purpose frigate. Development As it is currently the Guardian class frigate is nothing more than an idea on paper with hundreds of millions of dollars backing it for development. Design Sensors Modern sensors and processing equipment are rapidly advancing as time goes by and creating a designed sensor suite for future use will be long and costly. Currently in the works are the AN/SPS-60, AN/SPY-4, Mk 4 fire control system, and the Dual Band Mk 3 AESA Radar. The AN/SPS-60 is the primary air search radar system designed solely for use on Guardian class vessels with a range of over 300 nautical miles. The Mk 4 fire control system is the ships integrated weapons response system capable of directing all of the ships weapons to their appropriate targets simultaneously. The Mk 4 FCS mainly handles the ships AAW and ASuW weaponry but also integrates the ship's Sea Dome CIWS and quad ROS Machine Guns for point defense needs although those systems are redundant and capable of operating on their own. The AN/SPY-4 is a dual-band AESA radar system that will be installed in all ships of the Fleet Force Development Program. It will provide the fleet with the AEGIS II fleet defense network which will be able to integrate all ships utilizing the AN/SPY-4 type radar system for fleet defense purposes against all types of threats including ballistic missiles. New sonar systems are also being developed as well with the SQS-60 and SQR-22 Towed Array System. The SQS-60 will provide the Guardian class with vastly improved passive and active sonar capabilities while the SQR-22 is a next generation Towed Sonar Array System which is also projected to be much improved when the final models are created. Weapons The Guardian class frigate is a multi-purpose frigate and has a vast array of weaponry to prove that point. Main Gun The 6 inch Mk 40 Rapid Fire Naval Gun System is a completely new design created for the Guardian class frigate and the Defender class destroyer. Marked to be an improvement over the standard 5 inch gun systems on most current ships the Mk 40 will provide increased range, lethality and precision. It is a fully automated weapons system with no gun crew and is designed with a firing rate of 30 rounds/minute. Rounds are fed directly to the gun from the main magazine which holds 500 rounds of differing types of ammunition. Mk 3 VLS The Guardian class will be designed with 144 Mk 3 VLS missile cells. The Mk 3 is a hot launch system designed to operate a numerous variety of missiles from SAMs to ASMs and ASW rockets. Being a VLS it is capable of rapid engagement of any hostile threats to the frigate at any given time. Mk 40 Quadruple Torpedo Tubes The Guardian class possesses two Mk 40 torpedo launch systems with one on each side of the ship. While able to fire all torpedoes in service with the Altarian Navy it's main torpedo would be the Mk 60 ASW Torpedo. In development is the Mk 4 Active Torpedo Defense system which will be a smaller torpedo with the speed and maneuverability to intercept incoming torpedoes. Octuple Missile Boxes The Octuple Missile Box System is being designed to operate the RGM-90 Sea Master anti-ship missile with a total of 16 on the ship. The missile itself will represent an integral new augment and eventual replacement of the RGM-84 Harpoon. The Sea Master is currently slated to be a high supersonic (possibly hypersonic) cruise missile with the ability to neutralize even a super carrier with one or two hits. Defense Systems If all else fails close in defense is provided by four 35mm Sea Dome CIWS and four Quad 50 Caliber MG Remote Operated Systems. The Sea Dome will be capable of engaging targets accurately up to 5 nautical miles away using high explosive fragmentation rounds and a firing rate of 2,400 rounds per minute. The Quad 50 ROS is manually controlled most of the time and is designed more for ship security but is capable of being integrated for close in defense via the Mk 4 Fire Control System. With an effective range of 2.2 nautical miles and a firing rate of 1,200 rounds per minute it makes a formidable last ditch weapon. Propulsion Operational History Ships ANS Guardian ANS Keeper ANS Vigilance Category:Altarian Republic Category:Altarian Republic Navy